Dub is a genre of music[1] that grew out of reggae in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre,[2] though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae. Music in this genre consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings[3] and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, and emphasizing the drum and bass parts (this stripped-down track is sometimes referred to as a 'riddim'). Other techniques include dynamically adding extensive echo, reverb, panoramic delay, and occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.

The verb dub is defined as making a copy of one recording to another. The process of using previously recorded material, modifying the material, and subsequently recording it to a new master mix, in effect doubling or "dubbing" the material, was utilized by Jamaican producers when making dubs.[12] The term dub had multiple meanings in Jamaica around the time of the music's origin. The most frequent meanings referred to either a form of erotic dance or sexual intercourse;[13] such usage is frequently present in names of reggae songs, for instance, of The Silvertones' "Dub the Pum Pum" (where pum pum is Jamaican slang for female genitalia), Big Joe and Fay's "Dub a Dawta" (dawta is Jamaican slang for girlfriend). I-Roy's "Sister Maggie Breast" features several references on sex:

I man a-dub it on the side

Say little sister you can run but you can't hide
Slip you got to slide you got to open your crotches wide

Peace and love abide

Some musicians, for instance Bob Marley and The Wailers, had alternative meanings for the term dub. In concert, the order "dub this one!" meant "put an emphasis on bass and drums". Drummer Sly Dunbar points to a similar interpretation, relating the term dubwise to using only drums and bass.[12] Another possible source was the term dub plate, as suggested by Augustus Pablo.[14] John Corbett has suggested that dub could derive from duppy, a Jamaican patois word for ghost, as referenced by Burning Spear having named the dub version of his Marcus Garvey album Garvey's Ghost, and by Lee "Scratch" Perry stating that dub is "the ghost in me coming out".[15]

The word "duppy" also relates to "dub" through Jamaica's history of intra-racial terror, violence, and murder that is often overlooked in favor of Jamaican ideologies of racial solidarity. The ghosts of these victims, or "duppies", are thought to be captured best within the dub instrumentals. To describe dub in his study "When Echoes Return", Louis Chude-Sokei states, "Its swirling echoes are metaphors of loss while the disembodied voices and gunshots mimic the sound of ghosts, the sudden dead." [16]

Dub music is characterized by a "version" or "double"[17] of an existing song, often instrumental, using B-sides of 45 RPM records and typically emphasizing the drums and bass for a sound popular in local sound systems. A "version" is a record with the vocals removed, the alternative cut of a song made for the DJ to toast over. These "versions" were used as the basis of a new songs by rerecording them with new elements.[18] The instrumental tracks are typically drenched in sound effects such as echo, reverberation, with instruments and vocals dropping in and out of the mix. Another hallmark of the dub sound is the prominent use of bass guitar. The music sometimes features other noises, such as birds singing, thunder and lightning, water flowing, and producers shouting instructions at the musicians. It can be further augmented by live DJs. The many-layered sounds with varying echoes and volumes are often said to create soundscapes, or sound sculptures, drawing attention to the shape and depth of the space between sounds as well as to the sounds themselves. There is usually a distinctly organic feel to the music, even though the effects are electronically created.[17][19]

Often these tracks are used for "toasters" rapping heavily rhymed and alliterative lyrics. These are called "DJ Versions". In forms of sound system based reggae, the performer using a microphone is referred to as the "DJ" or "deejay" (where in other genres, this performer might be termed the "MC", meaning "Master of Ceremonies", or alternately, the later developed slang terms: "Microphone Commander" or "Mic Control"), and the person choosing the music and operating the turntables is called the "selector" (sometimes referred to as the DJ in other genres).

A major reason for producing multiple versions was economic; a record producer could use a recording he owned to produce numerous versions from a single studio session. A version was also an opportunity for a producer or remix engineer to experiment and express their more creative side. The version was typically the B-side of a single, and used for experimenting and providing something for DJs to talk over, while the A-side was more often dedicated to the original vocal-oriented track. In the 1970s, LP albums of dub tracks were produced, often simply the dub version of an existing vocal LP, but sometimes a selection of original instrumental tracks produced in dub style for which no vocals existed.

Dub music and toasting introduced a new era of creativity in reggae music. From their beginning, toasting and dub music developed together and influenced each other. The development of sound system culture influenced the development of studio techniques in Jamaica,[20] and the earliest DJs, including Duke Reid and Prince Buster among others, were toasting over instrumental versions of reggae and developing instrumental reggae music.[21]

In 1968, Kingston, Jamaica sound system operator Rudolph "Ruddy" Redwood went to Duke Reid's Treasure Isle studio to cut a one-off dub plate of The Paragons hit "On The Beach." Engineer Byron Smith left the vocal track out by accident, but Redwood kept the result and played it at his next dance with his deejay Wassy toasting over the rhythm.[22] The instrumental record excited the people at the sound system and they started singing lyrics of the vocal track over the instrumental. The invention was a success, and Ruddy needed to play the instrumental continuously for half an hour to an hour that day.[23] The next day Bunny Lee who was a witness to this, told King Tubby that they needed to make some more instrumental tracks, as "them people love" them, and they dubbed out vocals from "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by Slim Smith. Because of King Tubby's innovative approach, the resulting instrumental track was more than just a track without a voice – King Tubby interchanged the vocals and the instrumental, playing the vocals first, then playing the riddim, then mixing them together. From this point on, they started to call such tracks "versions."[23] Another source puts 1967 and not 1968 as the initial year of the practice of putting instrumental versions of reggae tracks to the B-side of records.[24]

At Studio One the initial motivation to experiment with instrumental tracks and studio mixing was correcting the riddim until it had a "feel," so a singer, for instance, could comfortably sing over it.[23]

Another reason to experiment with mixing was rivalry among sound systems. Sound systems' sound men wanted the tracks they played at dances to be slightly different each time, so they would order numerous copies of the same record from a studio, each with a different mix.[25]

By 1973, through the efforts of several independent and competitive innovators, engineers, and producers, instrumental reggae "versions" from various studios had evolved into "dub" as a subgenre of reggae.

Errol Thompson engineered the first strictly instrumental reggae album, entitled The Undertaker by Derrick Harriott and the Crystallites. This album was released in 1970. This innovative album credits "Sound Effects" to Derrick Harriott.

In 1973, at least three producers, Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Aquarius studio engineer/producer team of Herman Chin Loy and Errol Thompson simultaneously recognized that there was an active market for this new "dub" sound and consequently they started to release the first albums strictly consisting of dub. Lee "Scratch" Perry released Blackboard Jungle Dub in the spring of 1973. It is considered a landmark recording of this genre.

In 1974, Keith Hudson released his classic Pick a Dub, widely considered to have been the first deliberately thematic dub album, with tracks specifically mixed in the dub style for the purpose of appearing together on an LP, and King Tubby released his two debut albums At the Grass Roots of Dub and Surrounded by the Dreads at the National Arena.

Dub has continued to evolve, its popularity waxing and waning with changes in musical fashion. Almost all reggae singles still carry an instrumental version on the B-side and these are still used by the sound systems as a blank canvas for live singers and DJs.

In 1981 the Japanese band Mute Beat would create dub music using live instruments such as trumpets rather than studio equipment, and became a precursor to the acid jazz, ambient and trip hop music genres.[26] They collaborated with numerous Jamaican artists such as King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Gladstone Anderson amongst others and became a large influence upon future dub musicians.

Side by side with reggae at this time (early 1980s) running B side dub mixes, a rising number of American (mostly New York state and New Jersey-based) post-disco record producers in collaboration with prominent DJs decided to supply 12 inch singles with alternate dub mixes, predating the era of "remixes." Reflected in the production of records such as The Peech Boys' "Don't Make Me Wait," Toney Lee's "Reach Up," and artists mostly on New York City labels Prelude or West End. In the aforementioned mixes the beat of the record was accentuated, "unnecessary" vocal parts dropped, and other DJ-friendly features making it easy to work with, like picking out key sections to play over other records, heightening the dancefloor effect.

Since the inception of dub in the late 1960s, its history has been intertwined with that of the punk rock scene in the UK. The Clash worked on collaborations involving Jamaican dub reggae creators like Lee "Scratch" Perry (whose "Police & Thieves", co-written with Junior Murvin, was covered by the Clash on their first album) and Mikey Dread (on the Sandinista album). As well, the English group Ruts DC, a post Malcolm Owen incarnation of the legendary reggae influenced punk group The Ruts, released Rhythm Collision Dub Volume 1 (Roir session), with the expertise of the Mad Professor. Many punk rock bands In the U.S. were exposed to dub via the rasta punk band Bad Brains from D.C., which was established and released their most influential material during the 80s. Blind Idiot God placed dub music alongside their faster and more intense noise rock tracks. Dub was adopted by some punk rock groups of the 90s, with bands such as Rancid and NOFX writing original songs in a dub style.[27][28] Often, bands considered to be ska punk play dub influenced songs; one of the first such bands to become popular was Sublime, whose albums featured both dub originals and remixes. They went on to influence more recent American bands such as Rx Bandits and The Long Beach Dub Allstars. In addition, dub influenced some types of pop, including bands such as No Doubt. No Doubt's second-most recent album, Rock Steady[1], features an assortment of popular dub sounds like reverb and echoing. As noted by the band themselves, No Doubt is heavily influenced by Jamaican musical aesthetics and production techniques, even recording their Rock Steady[2] album in Kingston, Jamaica, and producing B-sides featuring dub influences on their Everything in Time B-sides album. Some controversy still exists on whether pop-ska bands like No Doubt can regard themselves as a part of dub lineage. Other bands followed in the footsteps of No Doubt, fusing pop-ska and dub influences, such as Save Ferris and Vincent.

There are also some British punk bands creating dub music. Capdown released their Civil Disobedients album, featuring the track "Dub No. 1", while Sonic Boom Six and The King Blues take heavy influences from dub, mixing the genre with original punk ethics and attitudes. The post-punk band Public Image Ltd, fronted by John Lydon, formerly of Sex Pistols, often use dub and reggae influenced bass lines in their music, especially in their earlier music through various bassists who were members of the group, such as Jah Wobble and Jonas Hellborg. Their track "Rise", which reached #11 in the UK Chart in 1986 - one of their most famous songs - uses a very dub/reggae influenced bass line.

Shoegaze bands such as Ride with their song "King Bullshit" and the intro to "Time Machine" have explored and experimented with Dub. Slowdive also penned "Souvlaki Space Station" and their instrumental "Moussaka Chaos" as a testimony of dub influence, while the Kitchens of Distinction released "Anvil Dub".

Traditional dub has survived and some of the originators of dub such as Lee "Scratch" Perry and Mad Professor continue to produce new material. New artists continue to preserve the traditional dub sound, some with slight modifications but with a primary focus on reproducing the original characteristics of the sound in a live environment. Some of those artists include Dubblestandart from Vienna, Austria (who recorded the album "Return from Planet Dub" in collaboration with, and performs live with, Lee Scratch Perry), Liquid Stranger from Sweden, New York City artists including Ticklah, also known as Victor Axelrod, Victor Rice, Easy Star All-Stars, Dub Trio (who have recorded and performed live with Mike Patton, and are currently touring as the backing band for Matisyahu), Subatomic Sound System (who have remixed material by Lee Scratch Perry and Ari Up), Dub is a Weapon, King Django, Dr. Israel, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad from Rochester, New York, Heavyweight Dub Champion from San Francisco and Colorado, Gaudi, Ott from the UK who has released several influential albums through Twisted Records, Boom One Sound System and Dubsmith from the Boom One Records label, Future Pigeon from Los Angeles, German artists like Disrupt and Rootah from the Jahtari label, Twilight Circus from the Netherlands and Moonlight Dub Experiment from Costa Rica. More eclectic use of dub techniques are apparent in the work of BudNubac, which mixes Cuban bigband with dub techniques. Modern dub producer Ryan Moore has received critical acclaim for his Twilight Circus project.

Dub music is in conversation with the cultural aesthetic of Afrofuturism. Having emerged from Jamaica, this genre is regarded as the product of diaspora peoples, whose culture reflects the experience of dislocation, alienation and remembrance. Through the creation of space-filling soundscapes, faded echoes, and repetition within musical tracks, Dub artists are able to tap into such Afrofuturist concepts as the nonlinearity of time and the projection of past sounds into an unknown future space. In a 1982 essay, Luke Ehrlich describes Dub through this particular scope: "With dub, Jamaican music spaced out completely. If reggae is Africa in the New World, then dub must be Africa on the moon; it's the psychedelic music I expected to hear in the ‘60s and didn’t. The bass and drums conjure up a dark, vast space, a musical portrait of outer space, with sounds suspended like glowing planets or the fragments of instruments careening by, leaving trails like comets and meteors. Dub is a kaleidoscopic musical montage which takes sounds originally intended as interlocking parts of another arrangement and using them as raw material, converts them into new and different sounds; then, in its own rhythm and format, it continually reshuffles these new sounds into unusual juxtapositions."[30]

The most straightforward explanation of the Jamaican Sound System would be an individual who deals with a mechanical system consisting of musical amplification and diffusion. This would include turntables, speakers, and a PA system. In this system the deejay is the person who speaks over the record. This is not to be confused with the American term DJ, which refers to the one in charge of selecting the tracks at an event with music. This role is known as the selector in the Sound System Dub culture, who also plays a vital role in the system, especially in Jamaican dancehalls.

While most people think of Reggae music as most associated with Jamaica, the Sound System has had a prevalent spot in music production in Jamaica for well over 50 years. The true importance and relationship between the Sound System and Dub music can be found in the dubbed out versions of sounds that became the source of Dub music. These dubbed out versions of songs consisted of the original track, without the vocals. Through reggae soundscape and the Jamaican Sound System, dub artists were able to creatively manipulate these dubbed out versions or remixes of songs. These dub remixes were heavily influenced with effects, vocal samples, and were essential to the progression of dub. The remixes, often referred to as versions were the B-sides of a specific record. The dub musician would add in dramatic pauses and breakdowns in the version to make the song have a dub influence and feel. The artists who were using the Sound System to create dub tracks would refer to their creation of remixes of certain records versioning. In the setting of a sound system, versions allow for more vocal improvisation and expressions from the deejay. These remixes or versions would not have been possible without the Jamaican Sound System and its progression over the years.

At the heart of reggae and Jamaican culture lies the Sound System. In the early 1950s the sound system was merely nothing more than a turntable, amplifier, and pair of speakers. Since then in the 21st century they have become massive productions set to include large scale equipment and crew and now has the capacity to tour world-wide.[31]

The Jamaican sound system paired with the evolution of dub music has caused new culture to emerge and change throughout Jamaica. When Jamaica gained independence from Britain in 1962, the culture was in jeopardy and the country was in a state of identity crisis. Along with its independence from Britain, Jamaica started to experience a lack of individuality and originality in its music, and this threatened to send Jamaica into further cultural disarray. The Jamaican Sound System, and Dub music allowed for Jamaica to have another genre of music they can claim as their own.[32]